Editorial: Projects around Polk show solar's increasing viability, which is a good thing

Tuesday

U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke told lawmakers last week that Florida’s coasts remain safe from offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Zinke’s insistence, however, seemed unconvincing, given President Donald Trump’s burning desire to unleash Big Oil in all corners of the country. And we still must wonder about the future of inland drilling. Earlier this year the Legislature refused, yet again, to finalize prohibitions against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on the peninsula. Meanwhile, despite little evidence of oil deposits, oil exploration was renewed last month in the Everglades along Alligator Alley — an operation that, state regulators assure us, will comply with the state’s strictest environmental rules.

But there is one way — admittedly over the long haul — to prop up Florida’s great outdoors: Look to an alternative energy source that Florida has in abundance, as we’re seeing more of in Polk County.

Earlier this month the Polk County Planning Commission unanimously approved a solar farm that Tampa Electric Co. wants to build on 420 acres in the Chicora community south of Mulberry. The project has not received final approval because nearby residents filed a formal complaint with the County Commission. TECO, though, has been approved for one project near the Streamsong resort, which is now under construction and is expected to be completed in September, and awaits administrative approval from the county for another between Mulberry and Bartow.

Moreover, in Bartow last week, city commissioners green-lighted a TECO solar project for 417 acres on the city’s east side, one of two TECO solar energy projects within Bartow. The other awaits approval of a developer’s agreement between the city and the company. Meanwhile, those moves occur after Bartow itself has established its own 40-acre solar facility.

With five solar farms either underway or in the works in Polk County, TECO has kept pace with Lakeland Electric. So, thousands of county residents soon will be powered by the sun.

They’re not alone.

Over the last 18 months or so, for instance, Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy, the Orlando Utilities Commission and the Tallahassee Utilities Department have announced the launch or completion of solar farm initiatives.

But you don’t have to wait for your power company to take action.

Back in February Deidre Macnab, former president of the Florida League of Women Voters and now an advocate for Florida Solar United Neighbors, came to Lakeland to tout the benefits of solar energy. She encouraged Polk residents, like those in 28 other counties, to form a solar cooperative within their communities. We agree with Macnab.

Cooperatives aggregate neighbors who solicit bids for installation of solar equipment for the entire coop. Such buying in bulk helps cuts costs, as does a federal tax break for solar installation panels that knocks 30 percent off the cost — at least until 2021. Consumers can thus save thousands of dollars.

The point is that solar energy is ramping up rapidly in Florida. In March the Solar Energy Industries Association reported that Florida had finally cracked the top 10 in solar energy production. The group also projects that the Sunshine State will the second-fastest growing solar market in the country over the next five years.

Solar power has some limits. For example, finding space for farms, such as those planted by Lakeland Electric and TECO, is one; political obstacles that curtail consumer incentives are another. So one result is that solar satisfies a tiny fraction of the state’s overall energy appetite.

But it’s clear that solar is growing in popularity, and people are becoming more accustomed to its usage. In time, as more solar panels pop up, we should fret less and less about where Big Oil wants to dig holes in our porous ground.

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